Sarissa Hex Bases Arrive!

All the way from merry old England, the Sarissa hex bases have arrived!

I received a nice supply of both 20mm and 15mm bases. Check them out!

The 15mm bases will be for Light and Mediums.  The 20mm for Heavies and Assaults.  I'll also put infantry on the 15mm bases as well.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Alpha Strike: A Base-ic Problem

Our foray into 3mm (1/600) Alpha Strike has hit a snag as we wait for bases to arrive from various providers.  I want to do this whole thing "right," and for me that means cool-looking hex bases of the appropriate size.  So I've ordered 15mm and 20mm width hex bases from both Litko and Sarissa and now its a race to see which ones arrive first.

We'll need plenty as I've now roped no fewer than 5 other gamers into this mad pursuit, so both sets will see use when they arrive.  In the meantime, I've had these units painted for several days, and I can no longer wait to show them off.

L to R: Dervish, Panther, Warhammer.

Infantry: Pico Armor Russians.

I hope to knock out the Atlas this weekend and add it to the queue of painted 3mm Mechs waiting for bases.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Nobody Asked Me, But...

An occassional installment musing on miniatures, reading, and whatnot.

• My copy of 13th Age from Pelgrane Press arrived, and I am incredibly impressed with the finished book. This is a fantasy RPG that beautifully mixes classic fantasy and indie design aesthetics for an amazing finished product that gives GMs and players alike permission to be great! 
• As we eagerly await the arrival of the Alpha Strike hard copy book from Catalyst, we've decided to also try the game using BattleForce scale figures.  This amounts to 1/600, or 3mm sci-fi, an area I've never dipped into, but Iron Wind offers just enough stuff to give it a go.  I'll be posting pics of some painted miniatures in this scale soon.  Now if only I can get someone to send me some appropriately sized hex bases! I've got several orders outstanding, so my fingers are crossed something comes this week.  
• My buddy Andrew is doing a dynamite job running our store Chaos Campaign, and he's built a blog to share the love.  Check it out here! 
• Gen Con begins this week, and while I will not be there, the rest of the Play Unplugged team will be, so check out the site this week for interviews and other cool con content! 
• For more on 13th Age straight from the lips of its two primary creators, check out this awesome interview the pair did with Forbes Magazine a few months back.  

Thanks for visiting! 

--Scott

Weekend Projects Afoot

I've got a few irons in the fire for this weekend's hobby projects, so I thought I might provide some visual previews!

First, some small-scale Alpha Strike:

Planning to play Alpha Strike using Battleforce scale minis. 

As you can see, these are small--roughly 1/600 vs. standard 1/300.

Next, some Chaos!

Bones Hellhound will make ideal Chaos Hound. 

Ungors will make excellent foot soldiers for my Champion. 

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Alpha Strike: Exterminator Comp Shots

As promised, here are a few comp shots of the 65 ton Exterminator with some other 'Mechs.

Maelstrom looking crabby....

An indecent proposal from this Ostroc? 

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Alpha Strike: Exterminator

I like solid, one-piece castings, and the Iron Wind Metals Exterminator falls into that category.  This 65 ton heavy 'Mech offers a nice mix of energy and ballistic attacks, and the profile I'll likely use for AS is the EXT-5F version that offers a 2 / 2 /2 damage profile.

When painting it I could not resist attempting a new Merc paint scheme--I've dubbed this one The Red Sons (based on the sheet of transfers I had handy).

My plan is to make them Periphery raiders with Clan ties--perhaps a unit of disgraced Clanners.  This precedent exists among the Clans, they're called  Solahma-units, and while they normally don't have a lot of 'Mechs, I figured this unit has truly turned its back on their old ways, attained independence of a sort (a DropShip and access to a JumpShip) and now roves the Periphery raiding and taking merc jobs where it can.

So the Red Sons will have a mix of second line Clan 'Mechs and Inner Sphere models like the Exterminator. This will allow me to cherry-pick the models I most want to use.

Next post I'll show some comp shots of the Exterminator and a few other painted 'Mechs.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Alpha Strike: Fire Javelin

Light 'Mechs can be very important in Alpha Strike--they're obviously very fast and can seize and hold objectives once they get stuck in.  I'm a big fan of 'Mechs with "all-energy" configurations (the ENE special ability).  When they take internal structure damage, they don't blow up as easily.

The 30 ton Fire Javelin drops its SRM weapons load in favor of additional medium lasers.  To model this I cooked up a little conversion adding the additional lasers in the right and left torso.

Left to right: Grasshopper, Fire Javelin, and Cataphract.  

Hope to get more done this week!

--Scott

Nobody Asked Me, But...

An occassional installment musing on miniatures, reading, and whatnot.

• Gave BattleTech: Alpha Strike a thorough reading and I am immensely pleased and excited!  My review on Play Unplugged has been posted! I predict a lot of old BT players will be dusting off their 'Mechs and other units for Alpha Strike.
• Re-reading Dune--I do this every two years or so.  I keep threatening to produce a community theater version of the book and casting my various friends in the main roles.  Sometimes I think I am only half-joking! 
• I was bummed out when Fate Core arrived at my FLGS and we proceeded to sell one of the five copies we ordered.  Then I realized that a lot of the customers who would have bought it supported the Kickstarter.  We'll sell all of our copies, I am certain of this, but it will just take a while longer.  It's an interesting dynamic. Such a fine book would not exist without KS, but KS siphons some of the natural customer base for it in the shops.  
• Painting BattleMechs again is great, and the campaign system in Alpha Strike means you can play meaningful games with some story elements attached to them. I plan to add a pair of Exterminators and an Atlas to round out my company.  Best part about it was my FLGS was able to order them via distribution, and that has not always been the case with Iron Wind's stuff. 
• JoAnn and I watched African Queen over the weekend, and while it's not Humphrey Bogart at the height of his powers, it still ranks as an all-time classic in my eyes.  Makes me want to bust out the pulp miniatures!
• My copy of 13th Age from Pelgrane Press should be arriving this week, and I am excited!  It's an RPG that mixes D&D 4E mechanics with indie game design principles to create something truly new and weirdly cool.  And knowing Pelgrane, the hardcover will be a thing of beauty.  

That's all for this installment, but I should have some more painted 'Mechs to show off this week.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Alpha Strike Komodo KIM-2A

This week I got my second Komodo done, a KIM-2A variant, swapping 5 Medium Lasers for a single ER Large Laser.

I also have the honor of getting to review the Alpha Strike PDF, and I am in the process of doing so right now.  I am pretty pleased so far.  I'll link to the Play Unplugged review page when it gets posted.

And here is a shot of the whole Colonial Marshal unit:

I need to add a few more units, but this is plenty for Alpha Strike gaming.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

BattleTech Alpha Strike Anticipation

The release of Catalyst Games' Alpha Strike fast-play BattleTech rules are imminent--maybe just a month or two away!  In anticipation I'd like to feature my recently painted 70-ton Grasshopper. This new design of an old classic features a torso mounted cockpit and nifty vambrace mounted weaponry.

I painted this 'Mech in my Colonial Marshals scheme.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

BattleTech Alpha Strike Announced!

 Catalyst Game Labs made my day last week with the announcement of Alpha Strike--a fully realized, hard-copy version of the Quick Strike rules I love so well to be released by Gen Con.

Brilliant!

If you want more insight into how Alpha Strike differs from traditional BattleTech, and to take a look at some of the 'Mechs I've painted, check some of my previous posts on Quick Strike here.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott